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Microsoft Aiming for a First-Party Xbox Game About Every Three Months

Matt Booty, head of Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios, has said that his team is aiming to release a first-party Xbox game about every three months.

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Jin_Sakai1774d ago (Edited 1774d ago )

They can barely push out one decent AAA game a year as it is. Now they’re aiming for 4 first party games a year? Crazy.

Servbot411774d ago

What do you mean, you don't love absolute classics like Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3? Well I never!

Zeref1774d ago (Edited 1774d ago )

Say what you want but Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2 still has a healthy community in the millions. People love those games.

Only exception is Crackdown 3 thats dead

jukins1774d ago

@zeref in the millions? Where'd you pull that one from

AspiringProGenji1774d ago (Edited 1774d ago )

I can understand SoT because it is making a comeback, but SoD2? That game fell off the radar fast and it’d br lucky to still have 100k players lol

conanlifts1774d ago (Edited 1774d ago )

I really enjoyed state of decay 2. Genuinely one of my favourite games this gen on either platform. I hated the other 2 games though and cd3 was so out dated I don't understand how they even released it.

BLow1774d ago

@Zeref

How many people again?

https://www.microsoft.com/e...

Where is State of Decay? Where did you get your numbers from? So your saying that State of Decay has millions of players yet it's not on the top 49 of Xbox Live most played? What about SoT in the 30s? That has millions too? I swear you fanboys are delusional. No wonder things are the way they are with Xbox. All y'all do is defend, deflect, and turn a blind eye.

Good day to you. Btw, no disagree for me. What's the point really lol....

Livingthedream1774d ago

@jukins he's actually right very healthy community with these games. Would be interesting to see how many people are still playing horizon zero Dawn, Detroit become human and all those single player games on ps. It's highly plausible that these Xbox games have more activity, not counting Forza horizon which is still booming.

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rainslacker1774d ago

First party doesn't mean AAA games that people get most excited about.

MS can push out 4 games a year, they just only usually do about one AAA game a year for the past few years, and last year, it was Forza. This year it'll be gears, and next year, it's looking to be Halo.

Since they brought mostly mid-tier studios, I'd expect they will be releasing mid-tier games mostly. They might get up to 2 AAA games a year with the purhcase of Obsidian, Playground, and the creation of their new studio. That puts them as having 6 AAA tier studios with their current studios....three of which are known to make Halo, Gears, and Forza.

Automatic791774d ago

343 Triple AAA
The Coalition Triple AAA
Turn 10 Triple AAA
Rare Triple AAA
Playground Triple AAA
Ninja Theory Triple AAA
Obsidian Triple AAA
The Initiative Triple AAA
Compulsion Double AA
Undead Labs Double AA
InExile double AA
Double Fine Double AA
Mojang Double AA
Microsoft GP Double AA Triple AAA
Age of Empires Triple AAA

I see a balance which is good for diverse games.

rainslacker1774d ago (Edited 1774d ago )

So...you just list all their studios and say they're all AAA or AA? AA is mid-tier to me. I'm not trying to make up new classifications for gaming to make anyone look better. 343, The Coalition, Turn 10, PlayGround, Obsidian, The Initiative(presumedly), and inXile are their AAA studios. Rare hasn't released a AAA game in God knows how long. NT is capable, but their next game isn't AAA. Age of Empires isn't a studio, and isn't that just a remaster?

I was wrong thought, that actually is 7 AAA studios. 2 of which have games releasing on PS platforms for their next games.

timotim1774d ago

One of the things that I love about what Microsoft is doing since acquiring those studios and empowering those studios to do, is invest back into themselves! Damn near every studio Microsoft currently has, has been investing in new talent to improve the games that they are able to produce. Playground, 343, Rare, Obsidian, InXile etc...they have all been pulling big talent from well known studios.

You want to classify these studios based off how they WERE as independent and struggling in some cases, yet you fail to understand that they are GROWING and improving their abilities. All these studios have produced great games in the past...Microsoft is now investing into them for the future and talent is being hired. The potential for these studios under Microsoft and higher budgets are sure to yield great fruits. Only a fanboy would call them "mid-tier". We just found out that the composer of Halo Infinite is the same guy that did the soundtracks for Spiderman, Uncharted and God of War...

rainslacker1774d ago (Edited 1774d ago )

I can't base them on anything other than what they were, because I haven't seen what they will become beyond my own speculation. MS is showing a lot, and I mean a lot, of mid-tier titles, which is fine, but they aren't showing a large number of AAA titles, so until MS proves that they are investing in a much larger number of AAA titles than they have so far, I have nothing to base any other assumption on.

Realistically speaking, NT does have the capacity for AAA games. They've released some in the past. But they are mostly mid-tier titles, and their next game is what I'd classify as mid-tier. I believe Playground has the potential to deliver a great AAA game, because they took a yearly franchise, adapted it to a different play style, and constantly improved on it. Oblivian and inXile have a history which shows potential to make AAA games. The Initiative is a new studio, which is being staffed to create AAA games.

But, when I look at some of the other studios in that list, regardless of how good or bad their games may be, they aren't known for making high profile AAA games. If one had asked me if Naughty Dog would be making high end AAA games, much less top of their class ones, when Sony brought them, I'd say no. They had a reputation from some bad games, to some good ones, all within what I would consider mid-tier for their time. But, they were given the resources to become AAA, and they've been delivering ever since.

IF MS does this, then that's great, but I'm not going to give credit before it's due. Especially to MS, who has failed in so many ways to prove they are worth having any kind of faith in. If you disagree, that's fine, but that's just my perspective on it, and the response of just listing off all their studios doesn't change the fact that what they brought into isn't capable of delivering 4 AAA games a year as the OP posited. Sony rarely even hits that mark, and 2-3 is more the norm, with mid-tiers to bolster the numbers.

Mid-tier isn't a dirty word, or a bad thing. But I was first responding to the OP, who put forth that MS was talking about AAA games, instead of just games in general.

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badz1491774d ago

when will MS learn that "talk is cheap"?

itsmebryan1774d ago

They have more studios now. It won't be as hard as it was in the past. Stop being a Debbie Downer.☹️

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BlackIceJoe1774d ago

If this was true Microsoft would have announced they bought more than just one new developer in Double Fine at E3. I'd say MS Needs at least four more game studios. If they bought a publisher like Capcom or ZeniMax then that would work too. Another idea would be if The Coalition and 343 could work on two games instead of just one with Gears of War and Halo.

FallenAngel19841774d ago

Make sure the quality content is there Booty. There’s nothing worse than going on a long period of time without a First party title and the next one is underwhelming

yarbie10001774d ago ShowReplies(1)
ravens521774d ago

Nice, I hope this happens. Then I can get a scarlett and my ps5

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60°

WayForward Director Says Nintendo Changed The Way He Looks At Making Video Games

Veteran game designer James Montagna is directing this new project and apparently has a new outlook on game design after teaming up with Nintendo

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100°

Delta, a new all-in-one Nintendo emulator launches for iOS

The new Nintendo-focused emulator for the iPhone is now available with support for several classic systems.

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jznrpg1d ago

How long until they get sued and it gets taken down? I say a month or 2

PRIMORDUS23h ago

Sued for what? It's just an emulator no ROMs are with it. ROMs are easy to get anyway, but with iPhone you can't just copy and paste like Android unless it's jail broken I think. Anyway Nintendo should be more concerned with their ROMs up to torrent for years for all of their concoles, but then again they can't do nothing about it, they never will and I love it. 🤣

NotoriousWhiz21h ago

As long as it isn't emulating the Switch, it'll be fine.

RonnySins21h ago

Naaah! Don't want to waste time emulating on iPhone.

Knightofelemia20h ago

Won't belong before Nintendo bangs on Apple's door to have the emu removed. Like I say you take down one six more take it's place. Problem is people are putting emu's on such stupid platforms. The good emus are the ones not on stupid platforms like a red target. The good emu's are word of mouth and keep a low profile.

150°

With Larian Out Of The Picture, Will The Baldur's Gate IP Be In Safe Hands?

Huzaifah from eXputer: "With Larian Studios washing their hands of the IP, what is the ultimate fate of the legendary Baldur's Gate series?"

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RaidenBlack1d 6h ago

If anybody's gonna mention BioWare, then look at Archetype Entertainment, they're the new BioWare
or else
Obsidian is still a good choice but not independent anymore.

anast1d 6h ago (Edited 1d 6h ago )

No, WoTC is pivoting to mobile. They can use Larian's work to justify DnD Go and everyone will accept it.

RiseNShine1d 6h ago

Short answer, nope. Long answer, f*ck nope.

robtion12h ago

Correct answer. Most people don't realise that the companies that are still making good games using common sense and a customer focus are generally not American. They are from Poland, Belgium, Japan, or other countries that have not yet become completely corrupted by 'extreme capitalism'.

Before you down vote me into oblivion I am not anti-american. I just don't like greed and corruption which unfortunately seems to correlate with power.

I would guess the next Baldurs gate will probably be filled with GaaS.

Christopher1d 6h ago

Honestly, we're talking completely new engine and none of Larian's built-in stuff with regard to environments and the like that they had from their past divinity game. No one is going to have that just ready to go. So, they need to shop for a dev studio that has a past game that shows what they want.

Obsidian doesn't have that, maybe the closest being Dungeon Siege 3 or Pillars of Eternity, but those are very basic, not as open, very little environment related and altering capabilities. So, we're talking a step way back on what Larian delivered. Zero scene experience to line up with what was done in BG3. Okay conversation tree designs, but still needs more complexity.

inXile has Wasteland 3 as a base model engine, and I think that's better than Pillars of Eternity from Obsidian. But, still needs to be more open world, more environmental effects, and a much heavier rules set adaptation. But, not a bad overall engine as a base, but still a ton of work. Zero scene experience to line up with what was done in BG3. Needs a ton of work on that entirely.

Tactical Adventure did the Solasta game. Really good and more accurate as far as 5e rules than BG3. But, again, if the expectation is similar to what made BG3 a big hit, engine isn't designed for moving the camera, is a bit outdated in graphics, doesn't have in-game scene elements, and needs much better writers/voice actors.

Owlcat of pathfinder games is another choice, even though they've recently moved on to WH40k licensed games. Again, though, the engine is the biggest issue here to match up, but it's a much better option overall than Tactical Adventure. Another question is writers/story telling, as much of their overall story telling bits are very limited with a lot of random worldbuilding elements that are just +\- of some attributes.

TBH, no matter who takes over, it's just not going to be like BG3 much like how BG3 isn't at all like BG1/2. And BG3 was so successful because of how much Larian was able to put in with their engine and how focused they were on players having ridiculous control over the story being told. I just don't see the next BG being the same and depending on what it is, it might be good but I'm not as big of a reach as BG3. It's way more likely players are going to go into BG4 (or its spiritual successor if it moves away from Baldur's Gate and into Neverwinter or something like Plansescape) expecting much of what is in BG3 with more options, new and older characters, and the same level of control over what they're doing. If it doesn't have that, regardless of who makes it, it won't be as successful, IMHO.

exputers13h ago

Yes, I completely concur.

As good and talented as inXile and Obsidian are in their own specific way of making their particular games, none of them have Larian's attention to detail, dynamic worlds, and reactivity, so even if they end up making a new Baldur's Gate, it's going to be a significant step-down in terms of gameplay if not narrative.

CrimsonWing691d 5h ago

Probably not, but maybe… just maybe…

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